Black Lives Matter protesters have hailed as vindication a decision not to prosecute them for participating in demonstrations in Northern Ireland when strict coronavirus rules on public gatherings were in place.
The Public Prosecution Service announced on Wednesday that no action would be taken against 14 suspects reported to it for potential offences under Stormont’s Covid-19 regulations.
The decisions relate to three protests that occurred last summer – two in Belfast and one in Londonderry.
Officials concluded that the test for prosecution was not met because the suspects would have been able to successfully argue a defence of reasonable excuse. The 14 people reported to the PPS for potential prosecution included a mix of organisers, speakers and other attendees.
No Prosecutions Over 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests in Northern Ireland
Fourteen People who were reported in connection with attendance at Black Lives Matter protests last year will not be prosecuted, Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said on Wednesday.
The PPS said that it came to the conclusion that “the Test for Prosecution was not met in respect of any suspect on evidential grounds.”
There was no “reasonable prospect of conviction” of the suspects as they could argue they had a “reasonable excuse” to attend the protests, PPS Assistant Director Martin Hardy said.
The 14 individuals, who attended one or more of three BLM protests in Londonderry and Belfast in June 2020, were reported to the PPS for consideration of potential offences under the regulations imposed to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.
2021. június 1. 9:41 According to the international lawyer, we can stop the decline of Europe built on Christian values, but we need active citizens. Because the mistake is not made by those who act, but by those who choose silent resignation.
José Luis Bazán is a Spanish international lawyer who holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Navarre. His main area of research is the relationship between human rights and Christian ethics, including the protection of the created world. He also deals with the phenomenon of persecution of Christians, in this capacity he has prepared several reports on the cases of Nigeria and Mozambique. He has visited Hungary on multiple occasions, most recently for an international climate conference organized by the Migration Research Institute.
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The Christian Institute has said it “will not hesitate” to take legal action if the Northern Ireland Executive introduces a ban on ‘conversion therapy’ which outlaws “the wrong kind of prayer”.
LGBT activists are pushing for a broad ban to criminalise prayer, preaching, pastoral support and even parenting which does not affirm same-sex relationships or a person’s chosen gender identity.
But in a written legal opinion for the Institute, leading human rights QC Jason Coppel says such wide definitions would criminalise the legitimate expression of religious beliefs.
Traditional beliefs
In a letter to the Executive’s Communities Minster, Deirdre Hargey MLA, lawyers for the Institute warned that a badly drafted ban “could inadvertently criminalise those in churches and other faith communities who adhere to traditional beliefs about marriage and gender identity”.